Just over five months after being shown the door at Old Trafford, Ruben Amorim is headed back to the sideline — this time with AC Milan. According to transfer insider Fabrizio Romano, the Portuguese coach has reached a verbal agreement to take over as the Rossoneri’s new manager, signing a deal that runs through June 2028 with an option for an additional year.
A Quick Return to the Game
Amorim has been out of work since January, when Manchester United pulled the plug on his turbulent 14-month tenure. The move to Milan marks a swift rebound for a manager who walked into Old Trafford under a wave of hype in November 2024, only to leave with a win rate barely north of 38%. His final tally: 24 wins, 18 draws, and 21 losses in 63 games.
The club he inherits is coming off a frustrating campaign. Massimiliano Allegri was sacked after Milan missed out on Champions League qualification, prompting a wide search that included Bournemouth’s Andoni Iraola and Crystal Palace’s Oliver Glasner. But Milan’s brass ultimately zeroed in on Amorim, and Romano confirmed Wednesday that all terms have been accepted. The deal is expected to be signed within the week.
What Milan Is Getting
Amorim arrives with a reputation forged at Sporting CP, where his 3-4-2-1 system turned heads across Europe. But his time at United exposed the flaws in that rigid approach — he refused to adapt the formation to fit the personnel, leading to fractured relationships with players and front-office brass, particularly director of football Jason Wilcox. The result was a 15th-place Premier League finish and a Europa League final loss to Tottenham, a far cry from the expectations that greeted him.
Milan fans are hoping the Portuguese coach has learned from those mistakes. He’ll have a chance to show it early: the Rossoneri are scheduled to face United in a preseason friendly in Wroclaw, Poland on August 15, a week before the new Premier League season kicks off. That reunion will be an early measuring stick for Amorim’s rebuilt reputation.
There’s also a financial footnote for United. Amorim’s return to management spares the club millions in compensation payments they would have owed if he remained out of work, according to reports covered by The Peoples Person. It’s a small piece of good news for a club that’s spent the last year sorting through the wreckage of his tenure.
For now, the focus shifts to San Siro. Amorim inherits a squad with talent but an identity in flux. Whether he can mold them into his image — or whether he’ll force the same square-peg-into-round-hole approach that doomed him in Manchester — will define the next chapter of his career.
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